Shadowed Reflections
by thedarkhasfallen
Summary: After Silicon and Stars Collide... SA2B... The blood pooled thickly around my feet. "I don't understand why you're bringing this on! You sent me away 50 years ago to prevent it!" I panted, glaring into the crimson irises that held my brown ones captive.


**Shadowed Reflections**

**Rated T: Violence and probably the use of 'hell'. Maybe 'damn'... Perhaps even 'dirty bastard' if I feel like it. Get over it.**

**Sonic, Shadow, and other characters are property of Sega. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Swift is copyright of me. You steal her and I'll kill you -grins innocently- Ask permission and I'll be nicer.**

**If you don't understand, go back and read _Silicon and Stars Collide_, also by me.**

**Please review! It'll cheer me up and I'll be eternally grateful.**

**Without further adue, let the story continue...**

**--**

Chapter 1: One Minute You're On Top…

The Friday night air was surprisingly and eerily stagnant, but I still took it upon myself to make my rounds, despite the unnerving atmosphere. And so, I bit my bottom lip anxiously as I quickly clambered up to the top of my apartment complex from the street below. I scurried from roof to roof until I reached the downtown district of Station Square, which had finally been pieced back together after the last battle between Perfect Chaos and Super Sonic.

In spite of the major destruction the duel had delivered, it was beneficial for the most part… _right?_

Wrong.

Apparently in this world, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The fact that Eggman lost control of Chaos and had been inactive recently only added fuel to the worry fire. While Sonic remained unfazed other than the occasional irritation due to lack of action, I became ever wary and began to run searches of the city nightly. Every once in a while, Sonic would join me on an excursion, but I went out alone for the most part. All of the reference points I visited were centered mostly around two things, the resident Chaos Emeralds.

Another troublesome event made everything even more eerie. My 'telepathic' connection to my older brother, who was supposed to be trapped in status since I couldn't get enough details from him to distinguish his area, had strengthened. I couldn't necessarily say what that meant, but I knew I didn't have a part in his extra strength.

As I perched on one of the taller buildings and looked over the edge carefully as to keep myself shrouded in the shadows cast by various structures on top of the building, I allowed my mind to go back to the last time I saw Sonic, two days ago.

--

_"Swift? Hey, Swift! You up there?" A hoarse whisper prodded me out of my thoughtful state. "Swift!" The same voice howled, a bit louder this time. I padded to the edge of the rooftop and peered over. A cobalt blob caught my eye amongst the darkness and my heart gave a flutter._

_"Yeah!" I called softly in reply to his seeking whispers. "What's going on, Sonic?" I inquired as he took to Triangle-Jumping to the top of the building I was stationed on._

_"I need you to check on something for me." He cut to the chase, staying within the shadows cast by the next building over. _

"_What?"_

"_GUN Headquarters. I have a feeling my freedom's in jeopardy, as is yours." He replied thoughtfully, glancing around nervously. _

"_Always is, always will be." I remarked in a low growl._

"_It's different this time. GUN's being a little persistent. They're mistaking me for some other guy." Sonic explained edgily._

"_If you ask me, the image looks more like me than you." I contemplated, noting a previous news report on the subject. _

"_That's not the point!" Sonic hissed back. "We're both innocent." He whispered softly, the closest thing to an apology I knew I was going to get for something so trivial. _

"_I forgive you." I responded, glancing away from his piercing eyes, turned lime by the neon lights. As a low rumble of thunder broke through the thin tranquility, we looked to the sky for answers to the one question plaguing the both of us: _

"_Who's threatening us this time?"_

--

"Swift! Where are you? Swift!" I jerked violently and nearly lost my balance against the building. I recognized the nasally voice that yelled way too loudly to be thoroughly stealth trained.

"Shut up, Tails!" I hissed as I gazed hesitantly over the edge. "I'm right here." I said less harshly, realizing I may have hurt his feelings. Seconds later, the soft whirring of twin tails in a circle rose up the building to meet me. Tails made a soft thud as his feet hit the ground. "Sorry." I winced and looked over the edge again to insure our safety. "What's wrong?"

"It's true. Sonic's caught." Tails murmured hopelessly.

"By GUN?" I probed. He nodded sullenly and snuffled. "We'll just have to break him out then." I snarled softly, causing him to look up and flash a small smile.

"Only problem is…" Tails started, treading to the edge of the building fearlessly and peeking over. "The robberies are still happening. So now, they're after the only other person the pictures look like." Tails pivoted to cast me a solemn grimace.

"_Push him over."_ My brother's voice hissed in the back of my mind.

_Why would I do such a thing?_

"_All life on this planet is against us. You and I both know that."_ He hastened to remind me._ "You were hurt by both Mobian and human. All they want is to kill."_

_Isn't that what we're supposed to want as well? _I sucked in air through gritted teeth and squeezed my eyes shut.

"_You tell me. I know what I want."_

_What is that?_

"Swift!" Tails yelled in my ear. I flailed and nearly backslapped him.

"Huh? Jeez Tails, was that absolutely necessary?" I growled, ignoring the thoughts for the moment.

"Yeah, it was! You weren't responding to anything. Are you okay?" He was scolding at first, but became more passive as he spoke.

"I'm fine." I assured him.

"You sure?" Tails asked disbelievingly.

"Completely okay." I pulled one arm across my body and stretched it, then shook it when I let it fall to my side again. "Perfectly alright."

"You still going to go out there?" Tails's sapphire eyes shimmered like water in the changing light as he turned his head to the north and nodded.

"Of course. I've gotta follow my duties." I grinned at him.

"No one assigned them to you though." He objected.

"That doesn't exempt me from them." I said determinedly, turning myself towards the north.

"Since it's obvious I'm not going to persuade you to stay in hiding, can you at least take this and promise me you're going to be careful." Tails groaned softly and passed me a dark brown bundle.

"What's this?" I stared blankly at the rough bundle that now rested in my palms.

"A cloak… and something you'll thank me for later." He grinned brightly at his cleverness. I glared hesitantly at him, then gently unfolded the bundle to discover that it was, indeed, a hooded cloak, but there was no surprise among the folds.

"Where's the thing I'll thank you for later?" I asked expectantly as I slipped the cloak on, allowing it to roughly rake my back through the spines. "And I thought my quills were sharp." I muttered and uncomfortably pushed the edges back to allow Tails to still see me as before.

"It'll pop up when you need it. Oh and I'm sorry about the cloak. It was the only one I could find." He mischievously placed his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth on his heels.

"Okay then…" I was left to wonder what exactly the devious little kitsune was planning. "I suppose I'll see you later on." I stepped to the edge of the building and slowly pushed one half of my left foot over so that it was hanging on thin air. "Keep Knuckles at the house until I get back. You need to get back there too." I turned my head to the side so I was looking at him out of the corner of my eye.

"But, I want to help-."

"Tails, the best help you can give is not to get yourself caught. I mean, who's going to break Sonic and I out if I fail?" I spoke with exaggeration. Tails rolled his cobalt orbs and proceeded to glare at me. "Unlikely, I know. But still, we have to be prepared." I drew the cloak about me and turned to cast one last look at him.

"Good luck." He said in a melancholy tone, thoroughly disappointed by my refusal to allow him to participate in my potentially dangerous round.

"Thanks." I smirked darkly at him and pulled the hood up, allowing shadows to cover all but my muzzle. "I will try to be careful. But, no promises!" I exclaimed daringly and showed him crossed fingers before leaping from the building.

"You suck!" He shouted down as I fell.

"Later, Tails!" I returned, laughter bubbling up in my voice. Just before I hit the ground, I shot Chaos out of my left hand to slow my fall just enough to allow me to safely land. With a last glance up at Tails and thumbs up sign passed to him, I lowered my head and sprinted up the street.

As I pushed the glass door open, a bright red glow caught my eye. Calmly, I walked past the crimson Chaos Emerald, small smile crossing my muzzle at the satisfaction of balanced energy and the reassuring fact that it was still in the Bank of Station Square, despite it's impractical position at the very front of the bank atop a pedestal, it's only defense a wall of 4-inch thick 'unbreakable' glass. Looking away from the gem, I strode on towards the counter where a banker waited expectantly.

"You understand I was just closing shop, sir." She gave me a warning glare for approaching her so late.

"Ma'am." I shot harshly, her startled face indicating I had used enough force.

"Well, I'm sorry. If you would remove your hood, ma'am, then I might've been able to better name you." She apologized arrogantly.

"I have a battle scar. I don't think you'd want to." I growled my excuse back, lying without much thought… as if I was programmed to. She grimaced a little bit, but allowed me to approach the counter. I pushed the cloak away to allow unrestricted movement of my arms, startling her a bit.

"You-you're Mobian?" She stuttered, fear vividly expressed.

"Of course. I'm, like, 3'5 and you think I'm human?" I asked incredulously as I pushed an envelope onto the relatively high counter… for Mobians at least. "Can you deposit this into my safety box?" I said more politely.

"Sure. My apologies." She replied curtly and walked around the counter. "Account number?"

"On the envelope." I nodded towards the envelope and she picked it up to glare at the cover.

"Very well, if you'll just give me a moment, I'll-." Suddenly, a huge explosion engulfed the front of the building. I whirled around expectantly, pushing the hood away from my face. The woman behind me gasped fearfully, though it was cut off by yet another explosion as she was thrown well into the back of the bank.

"Stay back." I said calmly, grinning a bit while I turned and charged an orb of Chaos in my hands to prepare for the first attack. Though smoke shrouded the view, the bright ruby glow of the Emerald pierced through valiantly, revealing that it still remained safe. However a split second later, the Emerald moved slightly. I shot the ball out at the area just to the right of the Emerald, receiving a satisfying crunch and yowl in response to the crushing blow the Chaos must have caused. Yet as reply, another explosion burst forth, showering me in debris and launching a particularly large piece straight into my chest. Breath thoroughly knocked out of me, I staggered back to the counter. Three figures appeared against the smokescreen, all three clearly avian in shape. As the red glow disappeared behind the lead bird, I let out a snarl before slicing through the air with my hand, a burst of Chaos following the motion. Though I was a little too late on my return attack, I still managed to illuminate the area enough to catch the golden energy glinting off of greedy aqua eyes. I felt my eyes narrow instinctively at their malicious familiarity, the eyes of a liar and a cheater that I thought I knew all too well. The pair of pupils dilated in his own recognition of my, possibly blazing, brown irises, blotting out the light blue slightly. I struggled to give chase as the eyes turned away and the shadows began to move out, only to be hindered by two human hands encircling my left ankle. I fell and only just caught myself, turning my head to get cast a fiery glare back at the foolish human.

_Well, at least I don't have to go looking for any civilians in danger now._ Allowing the female a less-than-dignified ride outside by way of dragging her through the debris, I staggered to my feet, coughing as I rose to encounter the thick smoke, which immediately began caking my lungs. However as I stumbled through the wreckage and rubble in pursuit, my highly modified lungs began to expel the toxic particulates with each breath.

_Just one more benefit I don't discover until I really need it._ I sighed and drew one edge of the cloak over my face and body protectively, glaring in focus into the smoke.

Finally, I lurched into the street just outside the bank, human in tow as the bank exploded rather majestically behind me, a Kodak moment were it not for the human attached persistently to my leg. Yet the instant I leaned down to dislodge the human, I was surrounded by a bunch of humans… with guns.

"Hands on your head!" One shouted angrily, brandishing a shotgun in place of the automatic rifles the others held. Growling, I placed both hands on my head, trying to hold back the rage that built up inside of me. "Swift the Hedgehog?" The same asked, waving his gun around.

"Yeah." I answered just as another soldier tore the hood of my cloak back. There were gasps all around. They clearly didn't believe they'd actually caught me so easily.

_Too bad I was doing the right thing._

"You're under arrest for armed robbery and aggravated assault." A different officer, one with a deeper tone, declared as metal shackles and cuffs, unlike the usual tiny ones placed on humans, were clamped over my wrists and ankles while my arms were yanked behind my back. The quick action dislocated my left shoulder with a sickening pop, freezing everyone in place but me. They watched in horror as I simple rolled my shoulder back into place without even a groan or curse as it ground into position. The human that had previously been attached to me quickly lurched to her feet, bloodied, but not dead in the least. She stared at me with wide eyes, obviously not believing that I was standing in front of her.

"Y-you." She stuttered, allowing two officers to pull her arms around them for support. Instead of making things worse, I became passive and allowed my head to drop, my eyes to bore into the asphalt beneath my slightly scuffed Jet Shoes. I studied these scratches intently; the grayish marks couldn't have been from the little explosion. "S-sav-."

"Keep her quiet. She has no idea what she's saying." The second ordered, and the two soldiers dragged her away, leaving her staring after me as she went.

"What's your name?" I turned my head to ask as the second strode arrogantly from behind me to face me.

"Colonel Richard Brinks." He shot back proudly, glaring daggers at me.

"Ooo, bringing out the big guns." I rolled my eyes.

"You d-do realize that a-anything y-you say or do-." A small shaky voice started to say.

"Shut it, Whisper!" Brinks snapped, silencing the tiny voice deftly. I turned slightly to check out who Brinks was yelling at, finding a young guy around 19 quaking in his boots. "Back up, Private! Don't you know she can do mind tricks to sway you to turn on us?" Brinks shouted at the young man.

"Pfft… mind tricks? Is that all you can come up with to explain what I do?" I scoffed, trying to keep the situation light… as Sonic would have done. "Besides, it isn't mind tricks. I don't even bother with mind control." They looked to be caught off guard by that one. "It's not my style, ya know?" I continued light-heartedly.

"I don't care what your 'style' is. Your capture, despite your slippery escape tactics and feared chaotic power, will give allow me to rank up hugely within moments of me bringing you in." Brinks cried victoriously. At that instant, I was roughly shoved in the back towards a huge armored van that had just pulled up.

"HEY! Watch it!" I snapped angrily, gnashing my teeth as I spun on my heel.

"You'd better watch it!" Brinks shouted, twisting me back around by my shoulders.

"DON'T you TOUCH me!" I growled threateningly, clenching my fists behind my back. "I think I'd actually like having my rights read to me, so I can figure out some way I can bite your head off around them." I gave Brinks one of my most menacing stares. He winced slightly, backing off a touch, while Private Whisper gladly obliged.

"Anything you say or-." I broke him off.

"What's your name, first off, dude?"

"Private Jeremy Whisper." The name was fitting, I supposed.

"Carry on."

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of law." Whisper said in a quite practiced and meticulous voice.

"Thank you. Now, I may be more cooperative." Smirking devilishly, I began to walk towards the armored van. Brinks immediately became more confident and sauntered up behind me, grabbing my shoulder and guiding my roughly to the back as twin tanks pulled up beside it. "What a convoy." I remarked sardonically.

"You're a special guest. We wouldn't want you getting a cheap escape, now would we?" Brinks sneered, almost certain of beating me. Glancing behind me at the other lower-ranked soldiers, namely Private Whisper, I cast him a regretful look. Whisper looked directly into my eyes with an almost fearful understanding, which made me wonder what his intentions really were.

"Yeah, a real shame." I muttered absently, looking back in front of me. With one last shove, I stumbled into the back of the van.

"Whisper, since you're so eager to converse with the vagabond, you've earned yourself a chance to really get to know hardened criminals." Brinks ordered as I took my seat on the metal bench on the right side of the van. My head jerked up at that and Whisper began absolutely shaking. I narrowed my eyes and glared at Brinks, who just cackled. "Enjoy your time with the villain, Whisper!" With that, the door slammed as Whisper clambered inside. He jumped and slid into the seat across from me, fingering his gun in his uniform.

As the van stuttered to life, I shifted my weight slightly and turned my head away from him. We started to roll out, away from the city and from what was left of our alliance against our new, but unknown enemy. Drawing in a breath, I threw away the building sense of helplessness and decided to once again follow with what Sonic would have done.

"So, Brinks doesn't seem to like you much, huh?" I prodded gently, glancing out of the corner of my eye at Whisper. He hesitated, shrinking away from me timidly. "The heck? I'm not gonna kill you, if that's what you're freaking out over." He glared at me through the darkness, only making me smirk wider.

"No, I guess he doesn't." Whisper finally replied after some thought.

"Why do you stick around then?" I cocked my head at him.

"Because of my father…" He paused, contemplating if he should go on.

"Well? You'll probably never see me again." I prompted.

"He made me join GUN because he wanted to be proud of me for something. He thinks I'm a big failure." Whisper looked away as he spoke, almost lamenting his decision to tell me.

"I know how that feels." I muttered, ears drooping at memories I wasn't supposed to have in the first place.

"He's always telling me; that mountain's too high, that ocean's too wide. Like I actually care what he thinks." He was opening up to me rather easily.

"Yup. As if you'll never be worth more than dirt and everything you do couldn't move a speck of dust…" I added distantly.

"Exactly."

"But all you want to do is explode." I added, inducing dark understanding silence within which we stared at each other, eyes glinting as the van passed beneath street lamps.

After a few moments of slow driving, it seemed like I had no hope of rescue, so everyone but me relaxed. Seconds after the 24th streetlamp was passed and I had sizzled the handcuffs to melted metal, something big seemed to pick the van up and toss it like a Hot Wheels car with a resounding boom from the millisecond it lifted off the ground to the millisecond we smashed into the ground. The force was enough to blow the doors open and send me flying out of the van and into the street. Unable to land on my feet for the shackles, I landed on my stomach hard, grating my chest and chin on the asphalt. Following a few moments of lying there, I gently turned over and sat up, firing a red-hot blast of Chaos at the chain between the shackles, melting them away like a fuse to a bomb. Turning my attention to the now flaming mass of twisted metal that used to be my ride, I looked around it for the singular human that needed to be retrieved from it. Zeroing in on a mass a few yards from the vehicle within seconds, I rushed towards it in certainty.

"Whisper!" I shouted, earning myself a turnover and groan. Sensing another explosion, I swooped in and carried the human away, moments before the vehicle blew into pieces. Dodging shrapnel nimbly, I ducked behind a building and placed the unconscious Whisper in the alley. Insured that he wasn't bleeding too terribly, I tore a piece of old newspaper hanging from a nearby dumpster. I singed it lightly, forming a thank you message in ashes. I placed the paper beside him and leapt into the street. Another explosion rang out, diverting my attention to one of the two tanks that was my convoy. Darting around the blast, I braced myself to jump at it. However, a blue blur got to it first, crashing into it headlong at super speeds.

"Miss me?" It asked as the spinning ball whirled by to smack into to another tank that had approached behind me.

"Sonic?" I questioned disbelievingly, a grin forming on my lips.

"In the flesh!" Sonic spun to a stop on top of a lamppost, flashing me one of his signature smiles. My heart swelled to a peak, only to be deflated by another blast, knocking the lamppost to the ground and tossing me back a few feet. Another tank took aim at me and was firing before I could steady myself. The missile hit me directly in the chest, sending me careening backwards. As I staggered to my feet again, something slid from the cloak I was wearing and clattered to the ground. Glancing down at the sudden bright yellow glow, I discovered exactly what Tails had concealed as my gift.

"Tails, you devil!" I exclaimed, bending to pick the Chaos Emerald up. Feeling the energy within me balance, I quickly directed it all into one place. "Chaos Control!" I yelled, thinking I had narrowly escaped injury. However, yet one more tank was trained on the area a random spark of light had just appeared.

_"You're not concentrating, Swift!"_

_Huh?_

I reappeared just as the second tank fired, blasting me out of the sky like an airplane. Consciousness slipped immediately, despite the fact that I fought it hard. I felt air slip past me as I sped towards the ground headfirst, aiming for a catastrophe.

"Gotcha!" Someone different, with a deeper voice this time, caught me just as I opened my eyes. I blinked blearily to restore my vision as the fuzzy being hopped to the next roof, dodging bullets and missiles.

"Wh-who?" I asked, rubbing my eyes and peering into the face of my rescuer. He appeared as a blob of black, red, and a little of tan and white.

"Oh c'mon, Swift. Please tell me you haven't forgotten your brother." He teased as he slid to a stop behind a broadcasting tower on top of a building.

"Sh-Shadow?" I quizzed as he set me down, vision clearing. "You're joking." Everything clicked. The convoys, the high ranked officers, everything…

"The one and only." Shadow grimaced. "The reunion fifty years in the making." I reached out and hugged him tight, receiving an equally strong one in return. He broke me off before I could get uncharacteristically emotional on him. "Now, let's get back to the Doctor with these emeralds." Shadow turned to the north and began to walk.

"Doctor?" I asked.

"Eggman." Shadow answered.

"No way, Jose! Eggman's our enemy." I exclaimed, falling into step beside him, slower to hope he would stop.

"Our? Who's our?" It was Shadow's turn to ask questions.

"Me, you, Sonic-."

"The Doctor released me. You should come with me. We're going to take the world by storm and force them to pay for what they did to the Professor and Maria." Shadow growled fiercely.

"I-I don't know." I pulled him to a stop, feeling a void rip open in my heart.

"Stop right there!" The familiar blue blur wheeled in front of us. Shadow pushed me off of him, leaving me standing to the right, but in the middle of Sonic and Shadow. "You, me, now! You're the one they want!" Sonic challenged, gesturing to the troops below. Tension rose like the tide and carried me back to sea with it. I froze, while Sonic and Shadow erupted into battle, launching themselves down the building and down the street in a death race.

"Wait!" I shouted after them, running to the edge and then stopping myself just before jumping.

_Just stay here and wait for them yourself. Remember, you made a promise to fight evil by Sonic's side until the day you died, despite the promise to remain by Shadow through thick and thin._

I sat down on the edge of the building, contemplating my next move as two balls of hedgehog careened down the street below, neck in neck.

_I can always convince Shadow through my actions that Sonic isn't the bad one here. And if he won't listen to reason, I'll just have to beat some sense into him._

As much as it hurt me to put Shadow on the other side, fighting against the one who had held me up in the years Shadow was gone would rip me to pieces within seconds, rather than days.

_Shadow, you're fighting on the wrong side! I'll prove that to you, if I have to die trying!_

I felt the sting I had just created in his mind through our telepathy, but knew if I didn't get that on his mind, I had no hope of living anyway.

_"And I'll just have to prove to you that humans aren't worth fighting for."_

_Maria was._

Bigger sting.

_"But is this hedgehog I'm fighting with worth saving the world for?"_

My turn to burn. Heart in my throat, I choked miserably. Fighting tears, I looked to the moon for consolence.

_Here we go, Shadow. "Bring the rain to wash the pain"… because I'm almost afraid of the amounts we'll cause to each other..._


End file.
